Many of the Ngaio Marsh books are available in Canada from Kobo ... but at net CAN$13.35 each. I'm not sure what HarperCollins is smoking with this marketing gambit.

On the other hand, many of the Ngaio Marsh books are availalbe in Canada from Amazon ... at net US$7.68 each ... and the Canadian dollar is currently worth MORE than the US dollar. Same ebooks, same HarperCollins ... 45% cheaper.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, the adventurous might find the entire series lurking under an e-rock with a little e-digging ....

Another note: H R F Keating's Inspector Ghote is set for re-release by Penguin in handsome new editions beginning in April. Hopefully there will be e-editions of those at some reasonable price. They, too, are set in India. A note about the release is here: http://hrfkeating.com/news-discussion/

Last edited by SensualPoet; 02-20-2011 at 06:10 PM.
Reason: added note about Keating

Here's an author I don't see much mentioned in the USA but his Inspector Montalbano series set in the fictional town of Vigata, Italy has become one of my all-time favourites. The antics and speech of of the Catarella character usually has me in hysterics, and the descriptions of Salvo's meals make me want to rush to the kitchen and start cooking!

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith - former USSR Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith - CubaWolves Eat Dogs Martin Cruz Smith - partially in Russia, but mostly in the 30 km exclusion zone around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster (how does that one grab you?!?!)Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg - Denmark and GreenlandThe Quiet American by Graham Greene - Vietnam in 1952The Comedians by Graham Greene - Haiti in 1965Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith - France, Italy, and Germany (if I remember correctly)Theft by Peter Carey - mostly Australia, but a bit in New YorkThe Little Drummer Girl by John le Carré - espionage, not mystery, set in the Middle EastAngels of Russia by Patricia le Roy - espionage, not mystery, set in the former USSR and in FranceMarch Violets by Philip Kerr - Germany in 1936

Slowrain beat me to Martin Cruz Smith and others as we share similar tastes. Nice job! As mentioned, Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series is set in 1930s-50s Germany and a little in South America.

Staying in 1930s-40s Germany, there's also Rebecca Cantrell's series beginning with A Trace of Smoke; and David Downing's starting with Silesian Station, which leans more toward espionage/mystery.

For more espionage/mystery, there's Olen Steinhauer's series set in Cold War Central Europe, but I've never read him outside of his recent The Tourist, which didn't quite do it for me. Slowrain, maybe you have?

In the same vein there's also the underrated master Charles McCarry, whose novels carry you all over the world.

Steve: No, I haven't read Steinhauer yet. The Tourist doesn't interest me as much as the Yalta Boulevard Sequence you mentioned (that's the author's unofficial way of referring to those books).

I should maybe amend my above post to say that The Quiet American is more espionage than mystery, and The Comedians would be more thriller, I guess, than mystery.

December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith (aka Tokyo Station) - Japan in 1941

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - a hostage situation in an unnamed South American country, but the events were drawn from a real-life story in Lima, Peru. However, it's more Gabriel García Márquez Love in the Time of Cholera than Tom Clancy Rainbow Six.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - a monastery in Italy in the 14th century. It's a bit dense with all the religious and political talk, but the library is certainly fascinating--certainly more interesting than the murders.

The Honourary Consul by Graham Greene - a kidnapping in an unnamed South American country

I'm going to steal another one from Steve: Alan Furst's World War 2 espionage thrillers. But I fear I'm getting too far into espionage and thriller territory and straying from your mystery requirement.